Maternal Instinct
by CelticQuailKnight
Summary: Post-Robobot, Contains Mild Spoilers- While hunting for food for her chicks, Dyna Blade encounters Meta Knight, out on his own in Dreamland, and decides to investigate. Unfortunately for the knight, a simple investigation soon escalates to a kidnapping, and he is forced to endure the horrors of being mistaken for a lost egg.


**Author's Note:** So. This is the first fanfiction I have ever 1. Finished, and 2. Let anyone read. Anyone besides my best friend, anyway. I write all the time, but nothing else is currently done, nor will it be anytime soon. This is an accomplishment for me, even though it was actually not my best work, I don't think. It was a drawing first, which you can find on my Deviantart under the title "I Must Incubate The Borb", which later evolved into this fic. That said, I'd appreciate you being a little gentle in your reviews, as, although I didn't put tremendous effort in here, I'm still proud of this being my only completed work. Even if my attempts at a little humor probably falls really, really short.

Thanks. ~~~ CQK

Afternoons in Dreamland were peaceful. Practically any given time was, provided that there were no intergalactic villains attempting to conquer Popstar and beyond. Why they always seemed to pop up near Dreamland specifically, no one could really be certain, however, most denizens agreed that they were likely drawn to the Fountain of Dreams and accompanying Star Rod, which tended to radiate a vast amount of power. Something most of those intergalactic conquerors found irresistible. Of course, Dyna Blade paid little attention to such things.

Similarly to most animals, she generally lived her life in the present, being far too preoccupied with the pressing concerns of the now than what may have been or what would come to pass. After all, she could not change the past, so why worry over it? And she could not foretell the future, so unless there was a chance of it greatly affecting the present, she didn't worry over that either. There were more important things to think about. She had three chicks to feed, and each was only an eyass, nowhere near being capable to hunt or gather food by themselves. They wouldn't be able to get off the ground anytime soon, either. But that was very much to be expected, as few young raptors are.

Her brood would need her care and protection for many years to come, and she would teach them all that she knew, to ensure they had the greatest chance at survival, including, of course, just how to properly use their powers; abilities like a mix of a phoenix and a thunderbird, just as legendary and just as real. Along with the other things; flight, proper hunting techniques and the like. As mythical as she was, Dyna Blade was not terribly dissimilar from any other bird. Larger? Yes. Faster and more powerful? Many times yes. But even still, when you got down to it, Dyna Blade was just as avian as the next songbird, crow or gull. Except perhaps one thing; her sentience.

This was often overlooked, what with her somewhat antisocial behavior, tendency to attack anyone too close to her territory, and certainly anyone near her nest, save a very select few, behavior generally associated with wild animals. Most knew she was intelligent, but had difficulty distinguishing between what was just a smart predator and what was a creature that could also feel emotions and consider subjective things, given her examples of behavior. But Dyna Blade, if she took note of this at all, didn't care. She was too busy looking after her chicks to worry about the thoughts of smaller creatures with shorter lives that could easily be preyed upon in times of need. Of course, she did try _not_ to do that, and set her sights on hunting and gathering other things, but in the back of her mind, the possibility still existed. That was just how hunting for your food worked. That's what she was doing that calm, sunny, late afternoon.

Her metallic, gleaming wings were spread to their fullest, making the most of the heat of day. Riding the columns of air, the thermals, made her hunting expeditions much easier. While her wings were long and pointed for speed, they were still broad enough, and had slotted primaries for soaring. She coasted gently over the land in a lazy, spiralling fashion that mislead how focussed she was. Her eyesight was unmatched, and gliding there at speed, thousands of feet up, she could pick out a mouse with clarity enough to tell its eye color. Not that she was hunting mice. They were a bit small for her chicks to eat, and therefore far too small to waste energy in collecting. Dyna Blade was after something bigger. Something like fruit.

Her kind were omnivores, surprisingly for any bird of prey, though her adult diet leaned more towards meat than that of her chicks. Her crop was full of it, most for her, some she would regurgitate in small amounts for them, as they weren't quite able to rip it themselves yet. That was why softer things; fruit like bananas, for instance, seemed to be a favorite of the babies. And she was in luck. There was a large grove of banana trees growing down below her, with one standing exceptionally tall; all the more easy to take its bounty.

She banked a wide, arcing turn, flaring her tail, and pulled her wings partway back, beginning to lose altitude and gain speed. Dyna Blade circled lower and lower, faster and faster, until she straightened out, the palm grove dead ahead. Swooping low, she extended her white-feathered legs and braked slightly, not wanting to tear the tree up from its roots. Her eyes had long since locked onto her target, and she wasn't looking away, her neck angling down to maintain visual contact until she felt the banana bunch under her toes and was sure she had it. Then, fruit safely clutched in her grip, her gaze shifted back up and ahead, and she began to climb once more, regaining lost height so she could return to her aerie.

Sunlight flashed off her wings each time she flapped them, her body glittering like a diamond amongst the clouds. Light, puffy cumulus, appearing only ever so often on the otherwise clear day, would have provided some entertainment if she was flying purely for fun; by circling around them or slicing through them. Using her speed to push and pull them together. But she was on her way home, back to her mountain peak, and getting sidetracked by clouds simply would not do. But as fate would have it, she was about to get sidetracked anyways.

Because it was during this flight home that Dyna Blade decided to look down, a rarity unless she was looking for food, and during this earthward glance that something small caught her eye. It was bigger than single banana, and yet still a fair bit smaller than the large, three-tier bunch in her possession. And very familiar. She'd definitely seen this one before. It was small, and round, and it had little pieces of metal stuck to it. It didn't grow the metal out of its body, like she did, but it did keep each piece very well polished. It could fly, too, and sometimes, rarely, even flew with her, but it didn't have any feathers. And its eyes were a tad too big for its body, in her opinion, but there was no way she was going to let it know that. ...It. ...Hmm. Now she thought about it, Dyna Blade was fairly certain it was a male. ...Him, then.

But in any case, she'd encountered the little round blue thing many times. He had challenged her to battles before, non-lethal, of course, he only wished to spar. (And as difficult it had been to admit to herself at first, he nearly always won.) And one time, when she had been assisting a similar-but-metal-less little pink thing in exchange for him helping her care for her chicks, the large, deadly metal thing that belonged to the little round blue thing had actually _attacked_ her. The pink thing was fine, but she was injured and had to attempt to fly home and nurse her battered wing. She'd succeeded. Curiously enough, the small blue thing had come to her. He seemed ashamed and had eventually convinced her that the whole event had been a tragic accident; he hadn't meant to hurt her at all. He helped heal her wing and shoulder and even provided food for her chicks as she was unable to hunt. Their relationship was strained for a while afterwards, but she'd eventually forgiven him. In a strange sense, he was like an old friend. Dyna Blade would live many times longer than most of Popstar's creatures, but the little blue thing had been around longer still; truly an impressive feat.

Dyna Blade resorted to circling him as if she were hunting. Just to watch him, all the way down there, unaware of her presence so many spans of her wings below her. She stared disapprovingly at his choosing to walk along the ground instead of catch the breeze and soar. Odd. Given any opportunity to fly, she'd have taken it, but Dyna Blade supposed that, as he was _not_ a bird, he was better suited to walking than she, and likely found it far less uncomfortable. But walking was slower, too. Maybe he was trying to pay more attention as he looked around, instead of just flying past? He certainly wasn't hunting. Just walking, all alone, towards the sea. A sea that was many miles away. He could have flown in minutes, so what on Popstar was he _doing_? Dyna Blade watched and waited. Surely he would come to his senses and fly off at some point, no? She blinked and chittered disdainfully to herself, before finally coming to the decision that such circumstance warranted investigation. Very casually, she folded her wings and dropped.

Lord Meta Knight hadn't the slightest notion he was being stalked. He was alone, yes, but in the middle of Dreamland's grassy plains, there were little to no threats, and certainly nothing he couldn't handle by himself. He moved at a casual pace, the dark folds of his cape wrapped around him loosely, the collar being played with by the breeze. He was on his way back to the Halberd after a very quick errand, nothing important. He'd been checking in on both the king and Kirby, just to see what had transpired since he last visited each. ...Well, perhaps 'visit' wasn't really the best word.

It had been after the last remains of the Haltmann Works Company's invasion that he'd dropped by the castle, assessing the amount of damage, out of curiosity more than concern; if it had been completely destroyed or there had been heavy casualties, he would have been aware sooner. Dedede and the Waddle Dees were moving along with repairs, and Kirby had appeared fine. Their actual conversation together had been short, a mere exchange of greetings, a complement of each other's skills and how they'd been used to aid in the defeat of the company, and ended with Meta Knight's suggestion that Kirby should practice more with his newly discovered abilities.

Kirby himself was thrilled that Meta Knight had come to speak with him. He rarely came into contact with the knight, and whenever he did, it was usually in the heat of battle. Not the best time for a friendly conversation. He'd seemed terribly crestfallen when Meta Knight had cut their interaction short and left. But the knight adamantly refused to reveal anything that wasn't absolutely necessary about himself. Information was given on a strict need-to-know basis, and Kirby didn't need to know, not yet. Someday there would be a great many things that would need to be told to him, and that duty would fall on Meta Knight's shoulders. Luckily, that should likely be centuries, if not millennia, in the future, so Meta Knight had some time to mentally prepare. Thank NOVA.

This recent excursion had been strictly to observe. He hadn't let himself be seen, and spoke to no one. Not a single Dee, certainly not King Dedede, and not Kirby. He'd quietly gathered all the information he'd needed to know about how things were coming along, and was now on his way home to his ship. She was practically fully repaired, though several of the weapons systems were still offline. But the rest of his crew was hard at work, and the ship would be up and running at full speed within the week. Thus Meta Knight had decided to enjoy himself by taking the scenic route. There wasn't any real hurry. They'd be fine without supervision and aid for a while, and he hadn't specified just when to expect his return, so he had plenty of time for taking things slowly for once. And as much as he hated admitting it, his wings were still sore from the events of Haltmann Works' take-over. They were healing well, but they weren't as strong as they had been, and the holes and cuts were still painful. The deepest could even still bleed, if he pushed himself too hard. But he knew, before the year was out, he'd be back in shape, stronger than ever. _At least_ , he thought, heaving a sigh, _I hope_ …

Air rushed past Dyna Blade's face as she went into a full vertical stoop, her crest flattening from the force of the wind. As soon as her eyes began to burn, her nictitating membranes began flicking, and she opened her wings just a bit; she didn't need to reach her full speed. The air moving across and through her primaries began to create the telltale whistling sound that accompanied her, like the sound of a jet. The blue thing, no, _her_ blue thing, wasn't moving fast enough to warrant a great change in trajectory, so she held her dive for a few seconds longer before extending her wings. Her sturdy tail fanned out to brake, as did her small, metal alulas, and her body rotated back to a horizontal plane in a dramatic swoop, pulling up to avoid the ground. Still far too fast to land abruptly, she let her momentum carry her in a straight line for another half mile, just twenty feet above the ground, before spiralling into a roll and carving out a wide turn back towards the blue thing.

Meta Knight began to notice a very faint noise. Like moving air, similar to when he was flying fast. He turned around to see a huge shape rocketing towards him only twenty or so feet above the grass. Jumping out of the way with a (sore) thrust of both wings, he hit the ground, rolled back to his feet and stared, pulse beating steadily faster than normal. His eyes were a startled white, but faded into a dark, confused indigo. What just happened? That… that was Dyna Blade, yes? ...Yes, it was, she was turning back towards him… Did she just attack him? No, she probably would've snatched him right out the air when he jumped if that were that case, and he hadn't done anything, had he? He spread his wings in a stretch, folded them around himself and took a slight step back as they melted into his cape and Dyna Blade fanned out to brake for a landing.

Pumping her wings and tail, she offered a series of chirps in greeting as she touched down, balanced on one foot while the other grasped… bananas? Oh, she must have been hunting. ...Wait, she wasn't hunting _him_ , right? Meta Knight looked up at the bird. She chirped again, like a question, tilting her head. Awkwardly, one gloved hand slid out of the cape to offer a small wave.

"...Hello Dyna Blade…"

"Keeer!"

Upon receiving her greeting, the bird bent lower in an attempt to reach Meta Knight's level, eyeing him carefully. She put down the bananas gently; there was no one around to steal them, and stalked slowly in a circle, looking over every side of him. Meta Knight tensed, unsure of why she was judging his appearance, and told himself that he had no reason to feel self-conscious, even though that's exactly how he felt. She blinked several times, apparently satisfied, and, once again in front of him, edged forward, partially extending her metal-plated neck that was hidden so often by her feathers. She tilted her head, the yellow crest fluffing up. Luckily, Meta Knight understood and reached out his arm, dropping the cape. He ran his hand through her feathers, stroking the side of her red face, below her left eye. This prompted a low clucking noise from somewhere in the bird's throat, which Meta Knight guessed was a bird's equivalent to purring. He kept this up for about a minute before pulling away, and Dyna Blade straightened back up. She'd asked to be pet, and he'd compiled, so she denounced he was in a good mood. Good. Now she would question him.

The language barrier _was_ a bit of an issue, as it would have been almost impossible for her to speak English, but Dyna Blade was certain she could get her points across in other ways. Not to mention, the little round blue thing was fairly intelligent. She hoped he'd figure it out. She spread her wings and flapped them, without any intent of leaving the ground. Keeping them held open, she jutted her beak at the knight. He blinked.

"...You want me…You want me for something? To do something?"

She nodded, pointing her beak at him again.

"What do you want me to do?"

The wings were flapped again, but this time, the metal appendages whirred to life at full speed, and Dyna Blade lifted off the grass into a hover before dropping back down. She chirped and extended one wing to the sky. Ah. He understood now.

"You wish for me to fly, yes?"

The aquiline raptor gave a nod. She shook out her tail and cocked her massive head, waiting for a response. Meta Knight sighed.

"I do appreciate the offer, but I'm afraid on my way home. Are you not? I see you've been out foraging," he gestured to the banana bunch, "Don't you need to return to your chicks?"

Dyna Blade ignored that question. _Of course_ she was on her way home, and _of course_ she needed to see to her offspring, but she was aware of the knight's tendency to leave important information out of discussion. She reached out and gently took the top collar of his cape in her beak.

Meta Knight flinched.

He'd been acquainted with the bird for years, and knew she wouldn't hurt him on purpose, but even still, having a hooked beak larger than his head, _attach_ itself just above his head, was still unnerving. She was very careful not to bite him, or tear the cape, and began smoothly running her beak over the fabric, "preening" him. He supposed the cape was as close as he'd get to feathers, from her perspective, but that didn't explain why she felt the need to preen him in the first place. He knew birds preened themselves to keep their plumage in good flying order… Now he was self-conscious again. Hadn't she already given him a once-over and decided he looked fine? It wasn't as if he never ironed the cape; he took very good care of it as well as his armor. Was there something on it? He'd looked fine when he left… And what did birds know about fashion, anyway!? Wait. Birds preened their mates, as well. It was a form of bonding. Of course he'd helped her with caring for the chicks on occasion, and they were on friendly terms, but surely that didn't make her think of him as- Oh NOVA, he though, his face flushing underneath his mask, that possibility was terrifying.

Dyna Blade was oblivious to his distress. Her mind was set on figuring out how his cape worked. She knew his weird, featherless wings were hidden in there _somewhere_ , she just had to get them _out_. Meta Knight resisted snagging one side of his cape as she took the corner of it in her bill and tugged it, leaving the collar alone.

"Hey! What's gotten into you today? What are you trying to-GAH!" He cut off with a cry as the bird's tugging caused a small spike of pain in his cape-wing. Immediately he shifted his wings into being, triggering a series of victorious chirps. "Dyna Blade! I told you already, I _can't_ fly with you today, I-" he stopped. Dyna Blade's piercing aquiline gaze was locked onto the indigo flesh of his wings. She stared pointedly at the scar-like scrapes, scratches and cuts left by the mechanization process. There was a fair bit of bruising along the arms where most of the mechanical wing parts had been anchored. His wings, in short, looked terrible, and he knew it. He quickly folded them along his back. "...All right. You've seen my wings. Are you quite finished?" he demanded, a hint of exasperation seeping into his voice.

"...Keeerrr…" Came the response, accompanied by a negative shake of her head. "Cree trill-trill-chirp! Keerreee!"

"You know I can't understand when you speak way."

"Keeerrr…" Came the response, followed by another shake of her head. Her crest and tufts flattened, and she pointed one deadly toe towards him.

"It isn't as bad as it looks…" the knight muttered, shifting.

"..."

"Even if it was, there's nothing you can do to help me. Just be thankful that Haltmann Works' influence never made it as far as your mountain, or you might be in the same fix yourself… I don't think you'd be fussing over me then."

"Chiiiirrrrp."

"As I suspected. Now, if we are done here, I really must return to my ship before nightfall, or _my_ … er… 'chicks'," he said with a laugh, a hint of pink tinting his eyes, "Will start to worry about me, and that's never turned out well for me in the past, and I don't think it's going to change now. Was there anything else you needed, Dyna Blade?"

Nightfall! Dyna Blade looked at the sky. Late afternoon would soon become evening, and the sky would get dark, the air would cool down, and, if left unattended, the little blue thing would undeniably perish out here, alone. He was like a tiny egg, far away from his nest. And as a self-proclaimed expert on making certain that eggs did _not_ meet such a fate, Dyna Blade came the realization that the survival of the little round blue thing rested squarely on her metallic shoulders. This required intervention.

Thus, instead of providing Meta Knight with a verbal response to his perfectly reasonable inquiry, Dyna Blade opted to attempt grabbing him. She lunged forward, trying to secure him in her beak. Meta Knight, who naturally assumed she was going in to bite, dodged away and became instantly on guard. Out of habit, his right hand migrated over to Galaxia's hilt, and the reassuring feel of the leather-wrapped grip in his palm allowed his mind to assert control over his reflexes and suppress the instinct to panic, brought on by the knowledge that flying from danger wasn't a viable option. He stared at her, muscles tensing. But she didn't have that gleam in her eyes, that certain predatory shine that signified aggression. She looked like she was thinking.

"Dyna Blade... " Meta Knight warned, his voice low.

Dyna Blade, again, provided no answer. She reached out again, opening her beak. Meta Knight shrunk away, tightening his hold on Galaxia, who had 'awoken' in his mind and was beginning to pay attention.

 _Meta Knight. What is she trying to do?_

 _I don't know, but it can't be good._

Dyna Blade "pecked" at him again several times, each attempt at catching him ending with a miss. Her feathers rose in slight frustration, and she chittered indignantly, rousing her wings. Meta Knight watched her talons dig ruts into the ground beneath them as she flexed her toes.

"Dyna Blade, I don't have time for this right now, I'm sorry." Meta Knight began backing slowly away, his wings fluttering back into a cape. "Maybe in a few weeks I can come back and fly with you, if I'm not too busy and my wings have healed." He spoke quietly, calmly, his heart set on making it back in one piece. Or perhaps more accurately, he thought, remembering his injuries, in as many pieces as he'd left in.

"Keeerrr…" Dyna Blade relented with a gusty sigh, and bent to gather the banana bunch up in her bill.

Relaxing, Meta Knight let his hand fall away from Galaxia, who hummed thoughtfully. He watched the bird shake out her wings, the metal blades emitting a ringing sound as she opened them fully, letting the feathers rub together.

"Thank you Dyna Blade." he said, dipping his head to her before gathering up his cape the way he liked it and turning around. There was a disheartened clucking sound from behind him in response.

 _Well today was more eventful than I predicted._ Galaxia whirred.

"Yes," the knight said softly aloud, "It certainly w-" Until he was cut off, as four claws suddenly manifested around his body, crushed the air from his chest, and pulled him into the sky. As the ground fell away below him, the taloned grip slackened just enough and he refilled his lungs with a gasp, struggling against the scaly, hard prison with a yell; "DYNA BLADE!"

"CreecreeTRILL!" Came the response, sounding very triumphant indeed.

 _Well…_ Galaxia spoke, sounding terribly amused, _There goes_ that _plan…_ And the sword's mental voice dissolved into what Meta Knight could only describe as laughter.

 _So help me NOVA I will melt you down into scrap!_

 _I don't think she'll let you go for that…_ Galaxia said tauntingly. _And your ancestors would not be very pleased to know that you destroyed a sacred magical relic…_

"Dyna Blade, for the love of NOVA, let me go!"

 _What if she takes that literally? Have fun falling-_

"SCRAP METAL-"

 _-And transforming into a bloody stain on the grass._

Meta Knight strained against Dyna Blade's hold, but the strength of the raptor was just too great. He wasn't getting free that way, and the way she had grabbed him, he couldn't properly reach Galaxia. Even if he could, he realized, there was no way to get Dyna Blade to loosen her grip without actually hurting her, which he was far from willing to do. Most animals could be dissuaded by a simple prod from the sword, but the rough, callus-like soles of her feet would render any such touch almost useless unless it was strong enough to really cause damage. As no new ideas came to him, Meta Knight was forced to simply wait for the bird to take him wherever she planned to take him. He saw no other way out of this one, and squirming around just caused the hard spicules on her toes to dig in to his skin. He was trapped.

"...You had better have a valid reason for this…" He threatened, hoping she heard him over the rush of the winds. Her head immediately lowered into view, presenting Meta Knight with a pleased smile, though her head was upside down.

"Chitterchitter!" Dyna Blade sang before looking back up. Abruptly she banked a wide turn, and Meta Knight looked out at the land in front of him. They were headed straight back for the mountain.

"May I remind you that I have a group of warriors under my command that will not hesitate to come looking for me, should I not return." _They're all loyal to a fault…_ "And I tend to doubt they'll be all that forgiving when they find out you've kidnapped me."

The avian gave no reply. Meta Knight sighed.

"...You really don't care, do you? You've got your heart set on… whatever it is you're doing. Is there nothing I can say to you that will convince you to land and put me down?"

Again, Dyna Blade offered him only silence.

"...I see. You understand this strains our relationship?"

"..."

"The next time something threatens you and your chicks, or someone violates your territory, don't come crying to me. If I see you land outside my hangar, I _will_ ignore you and walk away."

But he knew that his threats may as well have been empty. Dyna Blade was stubborn; there was no changing her mind about this. As her steady wing beats continued, all Meta Knight could do was watch as they moved ever closer to the mountain peak, where he assumed there were three hungry chicks waiting less-than-patiently for their mother's return. Glancing downwards, he watched the landscape below them blurring by, and then he tried again to break free, to no avail. Dyna Blade emitted a chirpy-sounding laugh above him. The knight scowled, his irises a fiery orange.

 _Just wait until she sets you down. You can get away._

 _Doubtful._

All at once, Dyna Blade braked, the sudden change in momentum causing Meta Knight to flinch. He decided that he preferred when he was flying himself, or at least when he was in relative control of whatever happened to be doing the flying at the time. Then, every movement wouldn't feel quite like a lurch, and it was infinitely more pleasant. As she flapped powerfully, lowering herself to the ground, Dyna Blade finally let go, and Meta Knight fell away from her grasp, dropping a few feet to the grass below. He hurriedly got out of the way; having a bird that size land on top of him was not high on his list of favorite things. She touched down surprisingly gently for such a large creature, and folded her wings neatly behind her. Then she strode forward, shooting Meta Knight a glance that said clearly ' _Don't even_ think _about going anywhere_ ', the banana bunch hanging pointedly from her bill. That was when the twittering began.

Fast, excited little chirps, many in a row, the sounds of them overlapping as if coming from more than one source. The chicks. Meta Knight turned to face the huge nes. Dyna Blade was perched on the rim, eyeing her babies thoughtfully as they clambered across the nest in a cumbersome way, eager for their dinner. The mother bird placed the fruit in the nest and carefully lowered her head to break off the individual pieces, passing each to a chick. The yellow babies tore at the peels, eating small amounts of them, but ripping most of the soft outside away to getting at the softer, far better tasting insides. Their high-pitched demands for food were only quieted when their beaks were stuffed, and as soon as the food was swallowed, they were begging for more. After each chick had consumed four or five each, which left much of the bunch intact, Dyna Blade pushed it to the side of the nest and turned her head to look at Meta Knight. Meanwhile, the babies still cried for more.

"Chirp." Dyna Blade stated, gesturing towards the nest.

Reluctantly, Meta Knight approached. None of the chicks paid him any attention, even once he climbed up and slid over the edge of the nest. Dyna Blade acknowledged him by relieving him of her stare. Tilting back her head, she made a quick series of bobbing movements, and Meta Knight realized that she was bringing up the contents of her crop. With a retching noise similar to a a burp or maybe a cough, she became instantly still, the half-digested meat now residing in her mouth. Bending down, she opened her beak wide, letting the soupy mixture be devoured by her chicks. Having eaten their fill of the warm, mushy substance, Dyna Blade cocked her head in Meta Knight's direction, her beak still open, the pungent scent of dissolving flesh wafting from her mouth. The smell was still recognizable as meat, but it had an acrid, tangy edge to it. Dyna Blade blinked expectantly, and Meta Knight, understanding, paled.

"A-ah… No thank you…" He said politely, backing away, bumping into the wall of the nest.

Dyna Blade moved closer insistently.

"Dyna, please-I really don't think-!" He stopped abruptly as she got so close that the tip of her bill almost brushed his mask. "You caught it!" He insisted, "You should eat all it yourself, I'm fine, really! I ate before I left!"

Luckily, Dyna Blade pulled away, swallowing the rest. With her offspring finally satisfied, they all marched over on unsteady feet to inspect their new visitor. Meta Knight let them come as close as they dared, their eyes wide, their tiny crests, barely consisting of more than a single plume, standing tall in curiosity. Did they remember him? One poked at his armor with its beak. Another stared directly into his bright yellow eyes, and seemed surprised when he blinked. Dyna Blade clucked several times and nudged the banana bunch over towards where Meta Knight stood surrounded by her chicks. The babies scurried out of the way, but continued to observe the strange, blue visitor.

Meta Knight knew that Dyna Blade wouldn't likely let him go free without him visibly consuming something in front of her, so he gently unhooked the sides of his mask from the rest of his armor. Placing the precious piece of metal down carefully beside him, he took a banana, peeled it, and ate it, savoring the sweet taste. The three chicks looked at their reflections in his white, mirror-like eyes, and decided that he wasn't a threat. They crept back over, nuzzling against him, and he pet them softly, encouraging more quiet little chirps and some satisfied twittering from their mother. As he absentminded ate several more bananas, Meta Knight gazed up at the sky. The sun was setting. He really had to go, now, and this time, he told himself, wouldn't take no for an answer. Glancing over to Dyna Blade, he was a bit shocked to find her clearly admiring how well he was getting along with her chicks. She tilted her head while a smile, all her feathers fluffing up.

"Twittertwitter…"

 _Well… here goes nothing._

Meta Knight slowly reached down for his mask, re-attaching the metal plate with practiced ease. The chicks seemed confused. The blue thing just turned silver? Meta Knight reached out to each one in turn, petting them gently, before he looked up at their mother. As he started to climb up the nest wall backwards, Dyna Blade stiffened. He was trying to leave again, wasn't he? This would not do…

" _Keeerrr_ …" Came the warning.

"Now Dyna Blade, I can assure you, I've had a… wonderful… evening with you, and I thank you kindly for letting me stay for dinner, but I really must go now." He finished, now standing on the edge of the nest. Before waiting for a reply that he was certain he didn't want to hear, he hopped over the side. The chicks squeaked in alarm behind him, and Dyna Blade instantly became irritated. If the little blue round thing that was practically an egg tried to leave, he would _die_. She had no idea whether he was either too stupid to figure this out or if he was just suicidal, but either way she was having none of it. Fluttering out of her nest, she quickly pounced, securing Meta Knight in her beak, and then dropped him back into the nest. The chicks began cheering happily, crowding around their new "nestmate". Meta Knight dragged himself to his feet.

"Dyna Blade," he started, struggling to keep his eyes from turning red, "I promise I'm not trying to reject your hospitality out of rudeness, nor do I dislike you or your children, but really!"

"CHIRP."

Meta Knight crept away, only to be seized again and brought back to the soft center on the nest. The babies crowded around him, making it nigh impossible to move. Huffing indignantly, he formed his wings and used them to gently push the birds away before fluttering awkwardly towards the general direction he should have been going in. Of course, Dyna Blade caught him easily in midair and placed him back down.

"Dyna Blade, PLEASE, I need to go home!" The three chicks rushed over and wrapped their stubby wings around him like a hug. Meta Knight sighed. Pushing through the embrace, he marched towards the wall of the nest again, climbed over the side and dropped onto the ground. He heard a flapping noise and halted as Dyna Blade dropped out of the sky in front of him, wings spread wide. Meta Knight was just trying to decide the best way to get around her when she reached out her right claw and grabbed his face. He froze. One gigantic talon slid gently under the top of his mask, and with a flex, popped it off.

Meta Knight stared in disbelief, his jaw hanging open. She just stole his mask.

"...You...you… WHAT!?" He cried. Immediately, Meta Knight hopped up to reach for it, only for Dyna Blade to casually lift it out of his reach. "DYNA BLADE-" He jumped again, this time risking flapping his wings for extra height. Again he failed. Dyna Blade smiled down and him and reached the mask up to her bill. Holding it there, she walked back to her nest and flicked her head, tossing the mask in it. Meta Knight blinked.

"...I am absolutely _not_ going in there to get it."

Dyna Blade said nothing.

Meta Knight held her stare, hands balling into fists. The white of his eyes began to slowly turn red.

"Dyna Blade, _please_ return my rightful property to me and let me be on my way before my emotions get the better of me and I'm forced to do something violent…" The eyes grew steadily redder, flaring up into what would have been a rather attractive scarlet had it been born of a less dangerous, aggressive feeling.

Dyna Blade clucked at him almost cheerfully, and poked her bill at the nest again, reinforcing her will. A soft, purr-like growl arose in Meta Knight's throat. Dyna Blade did not seem remotely perturbed, and instead of doing what was asked of her, she stepped into her nest, stood right in the center, and picked up the mask, holding the shining disk where he could see. She dangled it left and right like a lure, taunting him.

At this point, sore, frustrated, and growing tired, Meta Knight felt the need to either scream, or hack up training dummies with Galaxia, if not a combination of the two for maximum stress relief. But he could not leave. Not without his mask. His precious, precious mask. There it was, right in front of him, but he was unable to obtain it, and not even NOVA himself could make Meta Knight walk back to the Halberd freely in this state. He needed his face covered, he needed the cloudy whiteness of his eyes shielded from the remaining sun, he needed his identity concealed, and he needed the comforting feeling of protective anonymity that his beloved mask provided. In other words; Dyna Blade had got him good.

Meta Knight began to pace around, not caring about the four sets of avian eyes that watched him as he moved. He muttered things that Dyna Blade only half heard;

"Can't believe…mask…actually wants...thinking...why...stupid bird...mask...without my mask...bird... _ridiculous_!" He stopped abruptly, wheeling around to face her again. "...This is low, Dyna Blade. I would've expected better form from you…" the knight confessed, crossing his arms.

"...chitter chirp cluckcluckcluckcluck KEEER!" Dyna Blade shrieked around the mask.

With one final, despairing groan, accompanied by the red glow fading out white, Lord Meta Knight relented.

"All right… all right, I'll stay, I'll agree to stay- _But_!" He raised his voice, pointing an accusing, gloved finger the raptor's way, "You are going to give me that back. Are we clear?" He narrowed his eyes.

Dyna Blade cheerfully dropped the mask back into the nest. The chicks looked at the fallen piece of metal, then at Meta Knight. He paused only a moment more before he started taking slow, reluctant steps towards Dyna Blade's nest. His eyes never left her face as he climbed over the sticks and into the nest once more. He skirted round the babies, still not breaking his stare until he was sure he had the mask. Once he felt the familiar metal under his fingers, he snatched it away, hurriedly clasping it back onto his armor. After that, he closed his eyes and let the feeling of it sink in.

 _Yes_ , he thought pleasantly with a sigh, _Right where it belongs._

 _You appear to be entirely too pleased._

 _Don't you dare spoil this moment for me, you don't know what it's like; you don't even have a corporeal body…_

 _Well can you or can you not physically touch me?_

 _You are a sword, Galaxia, that does not count…_

"...Chirp…?" Dyna Blade ventured, eyeing the little knight carefully. He looked like he was in a trance. Maybe she should poke him… Oh. Wait, no, he looked normal again.

"...Yes, Dyna Blade, I will stick to my half of the bargain, though I still don't see why I must…" he trailed off. He moved over to sit near the center, and the fluffy baby raptors crowded around him once again. He was a bit worried that the hard, pointed edges of his armor might hurt them, so he opted to remove it. Undoing the straps that held on his pauldrons, he realized that, with nothing to hook onto, there wasn't a chance of his mask staying in place; he didn't have the leather strap with him that could secure it there otherwise. Sighing, he pulled everything off, mask included, and formed a neat little pile beside him. Except the cape. He figured it could work as a blanket if he was really expected to spend the night in Dyna Blade's nest.

Dyna Blade chittered softly, walking around the small group of four. Bending down, she nuzzled her head against Meta Knight's side. He scowled slightly, but reached his hand to pet her again. The chicks around him looked up at their mother. Dyna Blade settled herself gently into a crouching position, before laying down completely, directly on top of them. Meta Knight startled slightly, and crawled, dragging himself out from under her. He looked around the nest. It was getting darker faster. Dyna Blade clucked at him, shifting. A series of sleepy peeps emerged from beneath her. Then her white feathers began to part, and three yellow heads poked out from under her belly. Meta Knight watched the chicks creeping out. They looked around, then looked at him, then looked back at the sky, and the rest of the world. The seemed to wonder what he was staring at. Dyna Blade let them be, for a moment, but soon she was puffing out her down and coaxing the chicks back underneath her, where it was warm, and dark, and safe.

Meta Knight knew that she would probably attempt to get him under there, so he backed out of the night air and lay against her side. Folding his wings carefully, he flipped the cape around him and curled up to sleep. The heat from Dyna Blade's body slowly seeped through her feathers and reached Meta Knight. Begrudgingly, he admitted to himself that being there in the nest wasn't actually as uncomfortable as he'd feared it would be.

"Chirp, cluck cluck…"

"...Goodnight, Dyna Blade."

 _I still can't believe I'm reduced to this…_

 _Ah. But would you rather have had to fend her off trying to prove that point? I think this would be in your better interest for the moment._

 _And what about my soldiers, Galaxia? What will they think?_

 _...I sincerely hope you aren't trying to convince me that this would be the first time you've disappeared without much warning, if any. They will not be bothered so long as you return in the morning with a valid explanation._

 _They've been very… watchful of me, since…_

His thought words dissipated when he recalled the actions of Haltmann Works.

 _That, Meta, is because they care about you. As, it appears, does Dyna Blade._

 _Well, I can assure you of this; they will be… less than thrilled when I don't return tonight. I'll need to get back first thing in the morning…_

"I'm leaving as soon as the sun rises, Dyna Blade." He said in a murmur, the low volume of his own voice coming as a surprise. Perhaps he was more tired than he'd thought… The brightness of his eyes began to dim, and he let them slide shut.

"Chirp chirp." The bird said.

Meta Knight stifled a yawn and burrowed deeper into the bird's downy stomach. Dyna Blade fluffed herself just a bit, and turned her head to look at him, before sliding it under her wing.

"...Thank you." The knight whispered, feeling Galaxia's presence retreat from his mind.

"...Cluck…" Came the reply.


End file.
